Perlman will also make good on a promise he made eight years ago to perform in the city once the Shanghai Grand Theater was built.

Thirty-two Western musicians will join 33 Chinese youngsters in the music class, known as the "Perlman Music School," which is open to violin, viola, cello and piano players between the ages of 11 and 18. Perlman will be assisted by 23 teachers from the United States.

The program was founded in 1994 and is an annual event usually held in Shelter Island, New York.

"It requires the students to learn music in a broad sense, rather than the limited focus on a single instrument, which is different from the domestic education method," said Yang Liqin, president of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. In the master class, every child is required to play in a chamber group, sing in a chorus and perform as a soloist.

"The students who participate in the lessons should be involved in thinking out what they are trying to do rather than saying 'you just tell me and I try to do it'-it's two-way communication," Perlman told Shanghai Daily during a telephone interview. "We strongly believe that they have to play a part of the program."

Perlman's return to Shanghai is a bit surprising considering his famous remarks eight years ago when he made his first trip to the city.

"Shanghai has the best audience, but the worst performing venue in the world," he said following a concert with the Israel Philhar-monic in the former City Hall Auditorium on Fuzhou Road.

At the time he promised to return once the then-planned Shanghai Grand Theater was completed.

"The concert is the fulfillment of a promise the city made eight years ago," said Qian Shijin, vice president of the theater, who, as vice president of the Shanghai Cultural Exchange Company, was responsible for accompanying the violinist on his 1994 trip to the city.

The concert, with the Shanghai Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra on August 24 at the Shanghai Grand Theater, will be an all-Beethoven program, including "Leonore," "Symphony No. 8" and "Violin Concerto in D major."

(eastday.com August 7, 2002)